You could win $3,000 to prepare for the next Big One

California's Earthquake Brace + Bolt program offers annual lottery-based reimbursements to help retrofit eligible wood-framed, crawlspace homes built before 1980. Accepted applicants receive up to $3,000, with up to $7,000 available for low-income households, covering bolting the foundation, bracing cripple walls with plywood, and strapping water heaters. Berkeley residents in specified high-risk zip codes with many pre-1940 homes qualify. The program has assisted over 26,000 homeowners and now allows applications for non-primary residences. Low uptake of earthquake insurance leaves many exposed, while seismic risk in the Bay Area, particularly along the Hayward fault, remains high.

"California's Earthquake Brace + Bolt program, established in 2013, has opened its annual lottery for California residents who need support to retrofit their homes. Those accepted will be reimbursed up to $3,000 or $7,000 for low-income households toward the costs of an earthquake retrofit. The program is available for wood-framed homes with crawlspaces that were built before 1980 and subsidizes the cost of three critical upgrades"

"In Berkeley, the following zip codes qualify because they are considered high-risk for earthquakes and have large numbers of pre-1940 homes: 94702, 94703, 94704, 94705, 94707, 94708, 94709, 94710 and 94720. The program has assisted more than 26,000 California homeowners since its inception, and for the first time this year, property owners may apply for assistance for a home that is not their primary residence."

"Homeowner's insurance doesn't typically cover earthquake damage, and buying a separate earthquake policy can cost homeowners thousands of dollars a year on top of already spiking home insurance costs. That's why, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, only 10% of California homeowners have earthquake coverage even though California experiences 90% of the nation's earthquakes. Multiple major earthquake faults cross the Bay Area. According to the UC Berkeley Seismology lab, the Hayward fault is the most dangerous, with a 32% chance of producing a 6.7 magnitude earthquake during the next 11 years."

Read at www.berkeleyside.org